The usual
perception about the history of English rock & roll is that very few of the
jazzmen who preceded it managed to find much success with the new music. Don
Lang was the exception. Born Gordon Langhorn in Yorkshire, he was originally a
trombone player specializing in dance music and played with bands led by Teddy
Foster, Vic Lewis, and others, and he made his first records with Lewis'
orchestra. It was as a member of a band led by Ken Mackintosh that he began
making appearances on record as a singer, initially under his given name.
Eventually, he took the name Don Lang and went solo in the mid-'50s, initially
cutting records for English Decca. In 1955, he jumped to HMV Records, part of
the EMI group of labels, and hit the Top 20 in England with a superb recording
of "Cloudburst," which featured a dazzling scat vocal performance by Lang. In
1956, as skiffle music and then rock & roll began making themselves felt in
England, Lang and his band the Frantic Five began working with the new music.
The group also became a regularly featured act on The 6.5 Special, the first
British television variety series to acknowledge rock & roll and Lang also sang
the theme song each week.
Despite his weekly exposure on television, Lang had trouble selling records
until 1957, when he charted with a cover of "School Day," the
Chuck Berry song. He subsequently reached the British Top 10 with his
version of "Witch Doctor," a novelty tune by David Seville, the future creator
of Alvin & the Chipmunks. Lang remained popular into the very early '60s and
then he returned to his jazz-pop roots, leading a band that remained fully
employed on England's dancehall circuit for many years. Lang wasn't forgotten by
the British rock music world, however, and on June 21, 1968, he was one of four
trombonists engaged to perform on the Beatles song "Revolution 1" from the
group's White Album. Fondly remembered by British audiences from his days on The
6.5 Special, he occasionally turned up on the British oldies circuit and also
could be found playing jazz again during the 1970s and early '80s. He retired
late in the decade, even as his son Brad Lang became visible as a bassist with
the groups ABC, Jade Warrior, Wham, and Wishbone Ash. Lang died of cancer during
the summer of 1992, after a long illness. His music is best known in England,
where Castle Communications has issued compilations of some of his vintage
recordings.

SKIFFLE SPECIAL - DON LAND & HIS
SKIFFLE GROUP - Whiskey / New York Gals / Fightin' Men / The Cattle Train / This Train / By And By / A Rag, A Bone And A Lock Of Hair / Roll The Cotton Down / Poor Old Man / The Roving Gambler / Racoon And Possum / Sarah Kelly From Plum Nelly